


Tell the World

by TotalFanGirl221B



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: AU, Gen, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-23 13:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4878652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotalFanGirl221B/pseuds/TotalFanGirl221B
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martin could not stand to be here any longer. Obviously, nobody wanted to be in a hospital, but Martin especially did not want to be here. It all wouldn’t be so bad either, if it weren’t for a certain Douglas Richardson, which he soon realised was the real reason he despised being in this dreadful place. </p><p>you’re in the hospital bed next to me and we fight over what to watch on the shared tv au</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell the World

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Cabin Pressure or any of the characters

Martin could not stand to be here any longer. Obviously, nobody _wanted_ to be in a hospital, but Martin especially did not want to be here. At first he thought perhaps it was the fact that he was away from his job; it may have been a terrible courier service rather than the airline he had always dreamt of working for, but it payed the bills. Well, _some_ of the bills. He did have to do the occasional van job on the side, but that was fine. The rent needed to be paid, and so he endured all of it. Of course, what he had not counted on was that a truck would collide with his van and he would be stuck in hospital for days, nearing weeks. It all wouldn’t be so bad either, if it weren’t for a certain Douglas Richardson, which he soon realised was the real reason he despised being in this dreadful place.

The other man had been put in Martin’s room just a few days after Martin had been put in there himself. He didn’t mind the company at first, and truth be told, he was actually glad to have another soul in there with him. Watching TV all day alone was driving him mad, and so having somebody else brought in would be good for him; maybe he would actually have somebody to talk to. What he had not realised at the time was that talking to him had been mistake number one, and the second…

“Are you watching this drivel?” Douglas had asked casually on his second day of arrival. Martin had not been really paying attention to what had been happening on the screen, and was actually wondering whether he could contact anyone at home to bring him some books in, the answer was no, in the end. He jumped a little, startled by the smooth voice of the man he assumed was asleep beside him. This elicited a slight chuckle from the older man, causing Martin to blush as he turned to face him. “Douglas Richardson, by the way,” he held a hand out, managing not to get himself tangled in all the wires he was hooked up to. Martin, unfortunately, wasn’t as lucky, and fumbled about for quite a while before managing to reach the other man’s hand.

“Martin Crieff,” he spoke, smiling whilst his cheeks only turned a darker shade of pink. Douglas smiled and nodded, turning his attention to the TV, pointing to it.

“Anyway, _are_ you watching this?” he asked, going back to his earlier question. Martin had hoped for a little more of a conversation, but he quickly searched for the remote on his side.

“Oh, er, no. Sorry,” he smiled nervously, handing the remote over to Douglas. The older man simply smiled and nodded his thanks, and then went to changing to some antiques show or something like that. Martin had paid little attention to it, deciding it wasn’t really his thing, and went back to doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps he could talk to Douglas when the man wasn’t so caught up in _this_ “drivel”.

                That had been the main mistake, though; handing the remote over to Douglas had only encouraged more of these antique shows, house hunting shows and other such things. Martin barely got a look in. Originally, he had suggested they share the time between them equally, that way it was all fair. Douglas had been a little stubborn, but hesitantly agreed. However, since it soon became clear to Martin that _fair_ was not Douglas’ style, they had changed to betting and playing games for the remote. Which was all Douglas’ idea. “I can’t _believe_ I lost again!” Martin groaned, huffing as he folded his arms. Douglas only smirked as he switched channels.

“Never mind, Martin. You lose some… don’t you?”

“The expression is, ‘you win some, you lose some.’” Martin growled in return.

“That’s the expression, yes.” Douglas retorted, and then turned his attention fully back to the television.

                Martin would say he hated this. He hated losing to Douglas, he hated not being able to watch _anything_ he wanted. But, really, he kind of… didn’t. Being stuck here was what was actually doing the damage; not being able to work, not being able to pay his bills. Douglas’ antics, as annoying as they were, kept him from worrying about these sorts of things. Douglas was keeping him sane, and Martin was grateful for that. Plus, they didn’t _always_ fight. Many times they would have conversations, not really about anything, but it passed the time. Martin was coming to enjoy Douglas’ tales, as self-centred as they were, and Douglas did rather enjoy have Martin listening intently to them, as is he were a child’s grandfather telling tales of the war. Half the things he got up to at MJN were quite enthralling and dangerous at the same time, and Martin couldn’t help but listen to it all. “S-so you’re a real pilot? For a real airline?” Martin asked, leaning so far off the bed Douglas was afraid he may fall off. He chuckled at the boy’s enthusiasm, and rushed a hand through his hair, nodding. “Wow,” Martin smiled, beaming.

“Didn’t you say you were a pilot?” Douglas queried, only vaguely remembering Martin perhaps mentioning a job in aviation.

“It’s a courier service; i-it’s not an airline.” He mumbled, frowning as he turned his gaze to the floor. “It’s my first job though, as a, a pilot. But I guess I-I’d much rather work for an airline.” He looked up back to Douglas and the older man smiled sympathetically, a smile Martin had rarely seen from the older man.

“You’ll get there,” he nodded.

“H-how would you know?” Martin responded, and quickly corrected himself, realising how awful that must have sounded. “S-sorry, I just mean-”

“I understand,” Douglas reassured him. “I know because you don’t seem to me like a man to give up, I mean you’ve memorised the manual for god’s sake! If that won’t get you into a proper airline then I don’t know what will.” Martin smiled, feeling strangely reassured as the two had gotten to know each other quite well over the few days and weeks spent together.

“Y-you really think…?” Martin asked quietly, and Douglas nodded. “Thanks.”

* * *

 

“Shh, Arthur.” Douglas told the younger man sternly after he had started shouting once more.

“Oh yeah, sorry Douglas.” He frowned, annoyed at himself for not staying quiet as Douglas had warned him to do so as soon as he had come in. “But why?” Arthur realised Douglas had never really given him a reason, and he was curious. He knew when the first officer sighed and put a hand over his face that the answer was obvious to everybody but him, and so he looked around, searching for the answer, but found nothing, and his gaze fell back on Douglas again.

“You see the man in the bed next to me?” Douglas indicated with his head to his side, where Martin was lying with his back to the pair. Arthur nodded furiously, looking over at the man with bright ginger hair who wasn’t that hard to spot. “He’s fast asleep, and I don’t think he would appreciate it if you woke him.”

“Ah,” Arthur realised his mistake, and then stared at the man in bed. Douglas watched him curiously, and then quirked an eyebrow when Arthur looked back at him confused. “Why is he asleep?”

“Because he’s tired, I suppose. That’s usually why people do it,”

“Oh, but why now? Can’t he sleep later?” Arthur seemed rather puzzled by something, though Douglas really did not see the real problem here, and he rather hated himself for doing so, but he decided to see where Arthur was going with this.

“He could try, but there’s so much racket at night as well as the day, so now’s as good a time as any. Why are you asking?”

“Well, it’s just that…” he paused, wondering a moment. Douglas didn’t interrupt, actually curious to see what Arthur’s point was. Had Carolyn been here, she would have shut the boy up immediately and this would have been dropped, but something about the way Arthur was frowning… he seemed, if Douglas didn’t know any better, _upset._ What possible reason did Arthur have for being upset right at this moment? “It’s visitors time, isn’t it?” Douglas nodded, not quite yet following. “Why is he sleeping? Has nobody come to visit him?” Douglas stared at Arthur, realising that he was never given enough credit. Yes, the majority of the time he was an utter clot, but it was times like these he just comes out with very perceptive things that nobody else would have noticed. Then, Douglas turned to Martin’s bed, simply staring at the stillness of the man lying there. If Douglas remembered rightly, he had never seen anyone more than a nurse or a doctor by Martin’s bed. No family, no friends, absolutely _nobody._ And then he realised exactly _why_ Martin chose _this_ particular time to fall asleep; Douglas _had_ family visit, his daughter and friends, occasionally his ex-wife with whom he is on good terms with would show up, and of course the crew of MJN. If his and Martin’s places were reversed, he didn’t think he would be able to face all that and then realise nobody had come for him.

* * *

 

Martin was confused, terribly so. To be woken up by the sound of one of the shows he actually _liked_ baffled him, especially since Douglas had the remote. No, no wait. No, _Martin_ had the remote. It was sat in his lap, which only puzzled him further; that had _definitely_ not been there before, Martin was sure of it. He turned his head immediately to Douglas’ bed, only to be greeted by the man who was sound asleep. At first, Martin didn’t know what to do, simply due to the nature of it all. Then he realised he had two options: firstly, there was watch his show and ask Douglas what had happened when he woke; two, he could watch his show and simply forget about it. He could pretend he thought the remote had been there all along, that way if Douglas had done it by accident, then he could not take it from Martin. Then, he realised he was missing quite a bit of the show, and quickly nestled down into his pillows and decided on waiting until Douglas woke up to make his decision.

                Douglas woke later than expected, and he smiled when he noticed Martin enjoying his daytime television. It didn’t really make up for Martin having no visitors whatsoever, but it was a start. He stifled a yawn and sat up, then noticed Martin’s gaze on him as he turned. “Morning,” Douglas spoke, his voice a little hoarse due to his throat being dry.

“Good morning,” Martin smiled back, seeming a little happier than he had yesterday when he was being forced to watch Douglas’ terrible shows. “Douglas?”

“Yes, Sir?” Martin rolled his eyes, and grabbed a pillow read to throw at the older man. Douglas placed his hands up in surrender, and they both chuckled a little at their own immaturity.

“I _told_ you _not_ to call me that,” Martin moaned, but carried on. “Anyway, I was, er, wondering… did you give m-me the remote last night?”

“No, of course not-” Douglas lied, and turned to the TV frowning, feigning annoyance. “Oh, we’re not watching this _rubbish_ are we?” he rolled his eyes when Martin held up the remote, showing it off as though it were a trophy of some sort. Douglas groaned and threw himself back at the pillows dramatically, copying Martin’s pose from yesterday; crossing his arms and glaring at the screen. Martin only laughed, and then smiled at Douglas gratefully, somehow seeing through the whole act.

“Thanks,” he whispered. Douglas decided not to continue this façade, and nodded caringly to the younger man beside him.

* * *

 

“Are you alright, Martin?” Douglas finally managed to find his voice as he peered behind the curtain now separating Martin and him. He winced at the sight; Martin had his head buried in his hands, crying softly into them. Carefully, the first officer inched forwards. “Martin?” he spoke gently, perching himself on the edge of the bed. Martin looked up startled, obviously not wanting anybody to see him like this; his eyes rimmed red, tears streaming from them. “It’s alright,” Douglas soothed, edging a little closer. “What’s happened?” he asked comfortingly, holding an arm out. After a moment of hesitation Martin fell into Douglas, sliding beside him and allowing himself to be held closer to the older man. He rubbed his nose and stopped his crying as Douglas soothed him, and then eventually spoke up.

“They- they’ve fired me, from the- the job.” He hiccupped.

“What?” Douglas almost shouted, and then quietened down, realising it was quite late. “Surely they can’t do that, Martin.”

“It- it’s fine, really. Sort of.” He sighed, itching at his nose again.

“It’s obviously not alright. What are you going to do?”

“It is- I was going t-to resign, sooner or later… I just, needed… more time, I guess. I needed more time to l-look for other vacancies, but now… with the van in the state it is, I- I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, how I’m going to support myself when I get out of here, w-what can I do?” his breathing, Douglas noted, was beginning to quicken, and so he stroked the man’s hair gently and hushed him.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. It will be fine, trust me.”

“But, Douglas-”

“No ‘but Douglas’,” Douglas ordered, but in a friendly tone. “In the time you have known me, have I ever been wrong about _anything?”_ Martin quirked an eyebrow but stayed silent, causing Douglas to smirk. “Exactly. See, now there. I _know_ you’ll get yourself sorted, Martin; you’ll find a job and get back on your feet, do you understand?” it took Martin a moment, but eventually he nodded, and managed to force a smile. “Good.” Douglas nodded, still not letting his grip on Martin loosen a bit.

                “Thank you, Douglas.” Martin mumbled eventually, falling asleep on Douglas’ shoulder. Douglas simply smiled contently, and nodded.

“It is the role of the first officer to make sure the captain never falters,”

“’m not a captain yet,” Martin managed to slur out.

“Perhaps not _yet,_ in time though. You’ll see.” Martin smiled, genuinely happy for the first time in a long time, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 

Douglas was soon released from hospital, or as Martin had put it “set free”, and for some reason, he wasn’t all happy about it. Sure, he was grateful to get back home, to get back to work and all that, but a part of him would miss this. This _thing_ he had with Martin; the constant bickering, the being told off by staff members to “not throw remotes around”, and the rare, but enjoyable times they would open up to one another.

                That is why Douglas found himself returning to the hospital just a couple of days after leaving. He smiled to himself as he wandered through the familiar floor, searching for one man in particular: Martin Crieff. Thankfully he was still in the same place as before, and Douglas noted nobody as of yet had been moved into the bed beside him.

                “Captain, my captain.” Douglas announced as a way of introduction. Martin shot his head up immediately upon hearing the smooth, familiar voice coming from the doorway. And then, Douglas was glad to see, Martin beamed at his presence. “I see nobody has been keeping my bed warm for me; how rude.” Martin rolled his eyes as Douglas pulled up a chair beside the younger man’s bed.

“W-what are you doing here?” Martin pressed the remote for his bed to lift it up, so he could look at Douglas properly. He definitely looked a lot better now than Martin had seen him first, and perhaps… a little more handsome? Perhaps. Martin grinned as Douglas flopped himself down into the chair and eyed Martin up and down.

“Anyone would think you aren’t pleased to see me,” Douglas grinned.

“N-no, no, of course I am-” Martin fumbled instantly, but was interrupted by the older man.

“Relax, Martin, I know.” Douglas smiled, setting the bag he had brought with him aside for the moment.

“How are you?” Martin smiled, happy now that he could finally have the proper conversation with Douglas he had longed for when first meeting the man.

“I can’t complain; I’ve had a few days off work, so not much going on there, but soon I’ll be back causing the usual trouble.” Martin chuckled, recalling the several stories Douglas had told. “How about you? Everything alright?”

“Y-yes, well, as alright as they’re going to be for the time being. I haven’t really been doing much stuck in here.” Martin sighed.

“Ah, yes, about that. How much longer will you be in here?” Martin was a little confused by the question, but thought about it.

“Erm… should be any day now, I think.”

“Good, good.” Douglas paused, thinking about something. Martin was eager to know what, staring at the man intently, waiting for what was to be said next. “I was thinking, you won’t have a job to go to when all this is over, will you?” Martin grimaced, nodding. Douglas knew this, why did he have to keep reminding Martin? “Well, that’s good.” Martin raised his eyebrows, shocked now.

“In what way is it _good?”_

“You know that I work at an airline – a place you have always dreamed of working – well, just the other day my co-pilot was fired. I won’t go into the details, but the point is he’s gone, and we need someone as soon as.” Martin stared at him in wonder for a moment. Oh, this man. This man.

“You- you want…”

“I think you should definitely apply, and look, I even brought this!” he announced, grabbing the object from his bag. Martin stared, utterly astonished, at the hat being handed to him.

“What…”

“It’s my old Air England one,” Douglas smiled as he watched Martin twist it in his hands, inspecting it with awe as if it were something sacred. “I figured you could use it as some sort of good luck charm or something-” he would have continued, but was immediately cut off by the younger man almost jumping into his arms, wrapping himself around him.

“Thank you, so, _so_ much.”

“You’re welcome, Captain.” Douglas beamed, returning the hug.

* * *

 

The walk around was complete, the checks were complete, his hat had been donned. Now all that was left was to get to the flight deck, sit down and take off. “Good morning, Captain.” Douglas smiled to him as Martin took his rightful place beside him.

“Good morning to you,” Martin beamed back. Yes. This is definitely what he had wanted. All of his life. To take of as a captain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Any comments/feedback/whatever is greatly appreciated! Thanks :)
> 
> It's already been done by smallsteps32, but I thought I'd also give it a go. Mine is inspired by hers, which you can find here:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/3900103/chapters/11146559


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